Posted on

Intercepted in Djibouti air space

Flying out of Djibouti back to Paris on a French government Esterel ET 3/60 A340 squadron, we were friendly intercepted by 2 Mirage 2000-5 from EC 3/11 Corse squadron.

Interception took place minutes after we took off from French BA 188 airbase with my IHEDN class.

This was the pinnacle of a 5-day visit to this very strategic country were France has 1,200 soldiers stationed along with American, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and Spanish forces. On top of conferences regarding the regional geopolitical context, we had witnessed combined sea-air-land operations in Djiboutian desert.

    Posted on

    Back in the race

    With the kids starting racing, I too needed to get back on the slopes.

    Our coach Bruno was kind enough to help me out. Alas I missed the gold medal on my 3 attempts, loosing to kids less than half my age 🙂

    This was a great pleasure to be back on the launch pad nonetheless.

    3, 2, 1…

    Posted on

    Sitting in the Captain’s seat

    This morning was the first time I sat in the left seat (aka the Captain’s seat).

    Flying locally from Annemasse’s aeroclub, I took off on a DR400-120 registered F-HAFF for a 1-hour lesson with flight instructor H. Barrat above munificent French Alps.

    During this first lesson, I learnt how to fly steadily (not an obvious one), increase/ decrease altitude and make low incidence turns. That was truly a dream coming to life.

    I am looking forward to my next lesson tomorrow!